Airbus jet deliveries decline in November as production issues pressure full-year target

European plane maker needs to deliver 133 aircraft in December to hit revised 2025 target

An Airbus A320 takes off from the company's headquarters in Toulouse, France. It has faced inspections over an issue with the top-selling model. AFP

Airbus said it handed over 72 planes in November, bringing its delivery total to 657 so far this year and emphasising a slower month as the company grappled with a software glitch and production issues that led to inspections.

The November total is down from the 78 planes handed over in October and the 84 delivered in November ⁠2024, the European plane maker's reports show.

The latest tally means the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer must deliver 133 planes in December to meet its recently revised annual goal of 790 deliveries in 2025. By comparison, Airbus delivered 123 aircraft in December 2024.

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Plane makers often make a big push in the last month of the year to meet delivery goals, but for Airbus this effort is complicated by recent industrial issues. The company has faced inspections after a production quality issue related to metal fuselage panels on some of it top-selling A320 planes. This came just days after the biggest emergency recall in the company's history for a software update on its A320 model to fix a problem that meant “intense solar radiation” could corrupt data critical to the function of flight controls.

Airbus this week cut its annual commercial aircraft delivery target for the year to about 790, down from a previous goal of 820 planes.

For plane makers, December is "crunch time" and the "pressure is on", Addison Schonland, partner at US-based AirInsight, said in a note on Wednesday. "Meeting or beating targets is on the line. Leadership made promises and statements earlier on. Failure to meet targets won't go over well. But meeting, or beating, them could mean rewards," he said.

He expects the final assembly lines of plane makers to be busy by the end of the year. Historical data from AirInsight over the past five years shows the date of the highest delivery for Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and Comac was in December, or close to it.

The December delivery surge is a structural pattern, not a one-off phenomenon, the report found. "It’s a predictable structural behaviour in the commercial aircraft business," Mr Schonland said. "Suppliers know this surge happens and still struggle to support it."

December deliveries can also influence a plane maker's financial results. Each aircraft delivered can represent between $50 million and $180 million in revenue recognition, the AirInsight report said. "Missing a single wide-body delivery can materially change quarterly results," Mr Schonland added.

Plane makers' stock prices "often react to the final delivery tally, and this helps explain why December pressure is extraordinary – it's not just about hitting targets, it’s about earnings optics".

Supply chain problems are holding aircraft manufacturers below targeted production rates, underscoring that "capacity is maxed out", he said. As the demand from airlines for new planes remains above available delivery slots, plane makers' pricing power is reinforced, he added.

Airbus on Friday also said it booked 75 gross orders for new aircraft in November. That brings the total tally so far this year to 797, ⁠or a net total of 700 after customer cancellations.